WIS hasn’t had a pride week for a very long time, but this year, the Sexual Orientation Alliance decided to bring it back. Kicking off with the Day of Silence followed by activities spread out over the next few days, pride week is an important way to show acceptance and support for those who need it.

Day of Silence’s purpose is, according to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, a day where people take silence to represent the silencing effects of anti-LGBTQ bullying. It is a day where those who are silent show their support for people who feel as if they themselves are silenced.

But why does this matter so much to the WIS community? Don’t we already have an accepting, open-minded community?

I believe that we, as a community, have a long way to go. Sure, we claim to be extremely accepting of members of the LGBTQ community, but not a week goes by where I don’t hear someone make a gay joke or a remark along the lines of “that’s so gay.”

People at WIS are also less understanding of other areas of the LGBTQ spectrum, such as pansexuality. Pansexuality is the love of everyone, no matter their gender, and people often confuse it with bisexuality, although pansexuality is more fluid than bisexuality. I have even heard someone claim that they don’t believe pansexuality exists and that people should just conform to the label of bisexuality.

It’s this idea of labels and conforming to them that leads me to believe that WIS needs a more thorough education in terms of human sexuality and gender identity. Just because you don’t understand concepts such as pansexuality or people who are genderqueer – people who challenge the idea of a binary gender system – doesn’t mean that you should dismiss them.

I believe that this pride week will bring about education of lesser-known areas of human sexuality, as well as an emphasis on acceptance and the importance of using respectful language. We say here at WIS that we’re already accepting, but we need to start acting on these statements, instead of just expecting the statement to carry itself out.

By: Belen Edwards